


Examine “My Lucky Day”

by smileyjunior



Series: Examine “The Killing” [2]
Category: The Killing
Genre: Character Study, Episodic Fic, Murder Mystery, Mystery, filling in the blanks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:54:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27838675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smileyjunior/pseuds/smileyjunior
Summary: Episode “My Lucky Day” including the scenes you didn’t see and inside some what was going on in Sarah Linden’s head.
Series: Examine “The Killing” [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1944211
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	Examine “My Lucky Day”

Sarah pulled up to Gwen Eaton’s 2-story apartment building, parking right out front. She had a fairly good idea of how this conversation was about to go, but nevertheless it had to be held. With the doubt now in her mind, she needed to determine for sure whether or not Richmond was innocent, and Gwen whether or not she liked it, was part of the puzzle.

Sarah walked up the small walkway to Gwen’s front door with the numbers 418 on the frosted design which left the inside and outside somewhat visible so that when Gwen walked up at the detective’s insistent knocking, she could see the form of a shadow approaching to answer the door.

Gwen looked worn out, truly a woman defeated. The circles under her eyes were well pronounced, and it looked as though she had been crying. When she saw Sarah, Gwen seemed more exasperated then anything, “What do you want?”

“We need to talk,” Sarah responded, she could see that Gwen wanted nothing more than to ask her to leave. The detective couldn’t afford to not talk to her though, “Gwen, please.”

Gwen looked at her for a beat, then let out a sigh of frustration. Her tongue darted out to her lips as she looked down and stepped back to allow Sarah inside. The detective walked straight into a dining/living area tastefully decorated with blinded widows that showed the gloomy day outside. A newspaper laid out on the table with a vase of tall yellow flowers, surrounded by white cushioned chairs. To the right of the table was side table with a red lamp, an armchair, and a small couch with several cushions.

Sarah and Gwen stood in front of the square dining table, next to the staircase that led to the second floor.

Gwen looked at Sarah, crossing her arms and tucking her bathrobe around her self, “What is it detective?”

Judgement day. “Gwen, some new evidence has come to light and I have come to the conclusion that the evidence against Darren Richmond doesn’t add up.” The other woman didn’t say anything for a moment seemingly struck dumb, “Gwen?”

“Are you kidding me? Do you know where he is right now, detective?” Gwen was giving Sarah a look with underlying anger, that Sarah was sure would have come off stronger were the woman not so tired. “He’s lying in the hospital paralyzed.” Her head nodded slightly as she said this. The news of the paralyzation was new to Sarah, and horrible news at that. If Darren had only been honest... Sarah didn’t let it show though, and when the detective didn’t respond Gwen pushed on, “You’re telling me you evidence doesn’t add up?”

Linden’s lips parted slightly and she pulled her gaze away from Gwen’s briefly. She had to focus, she had a job to do. Raising her eyebrows and looking back up at Gwen, Sarah spoke, “I just need us to go over everything that you remember from that night.”

“No,” Gwen shook her head. “I spent the last 12 hours sitting in a hospital waiting room praying that he would survive, covered in his blood.” She looked at Sarah as though she had been betrayed, “Now you’re telling me you don’t have a case anymore?”

Sarah’s determination was unwavering, “If he wasn’t with you that night, then where was he?”

Gwen’s anger seemed to be bubbling to the surface as she glanced away from the detective briefly. Then, it was as though she had been deflated. She turned and walked towards the living room, sitting on the armchair parallel to the table. Sarah followed her and took a seat on the couch against the wall, her hands clasped together and hanging limply in between her legs.

The woman looked up at Sarah, “I-I’d never been to that B&B with him in Tacoma before. I wasn’t even supposed to go. I had a dinner that night. It was canceled. I thought I would join.” Her words were uninterrupted and came up fast as she she shook her head intermittently.

“And sometime after midnight, he got up and left?” asked Sarah, where did he go?

Gwen didn’t look at her, “Yes.”

“Did he say anything to you?”

“No. I was half asleep.”

“When he got back he was soaking wet.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes.”

Sarah’s head tilted the other way, “Did you ask him where he’d been?”

“No,” Gwen looked up at the detective. “He didn’t tell me,” she blinked slowly as she looked at Sarah with a wrinkled brow and tired eyes. “He just stood there in the middle of the room in his soaking-wet clothes, dripping on the rug. And then he took off those clothes, and we…” she glanced down again. “Somehow he was different,” her lips didn’t close and she rocked slightly.

“Different how?”

“More present. Less preoccupied.” Sarah raised her head intrigued by this new information, while Gwen seemed lost in her thoughts, “For once I felt like I wasn’t… competing with anyone else.” She shook her head, “Or maybe I was just imagining that.”

The timeframe could change everything, or it could help build the case. Either way, Detective Linden needed to know. “What time was it when he got back, Gwen?”

“I don’t know.”

Sarah wasn’t going to let that pass for an answer, “Think. Was it still dark outside?”

Gwen sighed softly and looked away, “I remember thinking it was morning.”

“Why? Because of the light?”

She shook her head and spoke in such a soft voice it bordered on a whisper, “No, because he smelled the way he smells after he’s been kayaking in the morning.”

“He smelled like sweat?”

“More briny.”

“Like the ocean.”

“Yes,” Gwen was barely audible at this confirmation. “When I kissed him, I could taste the salt on his neck.”

Sarah mulled over this information. Rosie Larsen hadn’t been drowned in salt water. She took a small breath as her furrowed brow became more pronounced, “What did he do with his clothes from that night?”

“I don’t know. Took them to the dry cleaner. I don’t know.”

“Do you have a key to his apartment?”

Gwen stood up slowly and walked over to the chest by the staircase. She opened a drawer and pulled out a key, Sarah had stood up and followed her.

“I’ll bring this back,” the detective promised putting the key away in her pocket. Gwen nodded, but didn’t give a verbal response. Sarah looked at the worn woman one last time, “Thank you for your help Gwen. I’ll see myself out.”

With that, Sarah walked to the front door and headed out back to her car. Since she had already been to Richmond’s house on multiple occasions, she had a fairly good idea of how to get there. Richmond’s high rise condo was in downtown Seattle. Sarah pulled into the building’s parking garage and took the elevator up to Richmond’s floor.

When she got up to his floor Sarah made her way down the buildings hallway and stood outside of his door, thinking for a moment about the last time she had stood there, Richmond had invited her inside and she had proceeded to accuse him of being the killer. He had become outraged and said that she had no clue what he had had to do to get to where he was.

Sarah shook off the memory and used the key to go inside the flat, refocusing herself. The stillness and quiet was unnerving, but nevertheless Sarah made her way inside and pulled on some latex gloves. She went to his bedroom, and opened the closet only finding some suit pieces wrapped in plastic most likely having just been dry cleaned. She thought these may have been the clothes that were soaking wet when he retuned to Gwen. There was also a small wardrobe with a drawer that she also opened as well but there was nothing inside.

She walked out of the bedroom and slowly made her way further into the condo, walking parallel to the staircase and into the living and kitchen area with the wide windows and a door that led to a patio and displayed a great view of the city. As Sarah walked by the couch she lifted a pillow to look fix it as it had been hanging off of the edge. By the left wall was a television, and next to it was a bookshelf that had some pictures on top, but also some pictures that had been knocked off and laid on the ground.

One of the framed photos had been broken, the glass smashed completely. Sarah bent down, and looked at the subjects in the photos; it was the same two people, Richmond and a brunette who must have been his wife the one who had died. Sarah reached inside the broken glass to take out the picture inside, she shook off the glass and held the photo with both hands bringing it up closer. Richmond and his wife were smiling happily, he held her in his arms as they stood inform of a mountainous view and a bridge in the back. Sarah flipped the photo over and found writing saying: _Tacoma, Oct. 5, 2002._

Sarah looked at the writing before looking up and thinking. Richmond seemed to have some resort of connection to Tacoma. Technically, he hadn’t invited Gwen, had he? She’d just decided to go... When she looked back at the picture Sarah could see a ring on the woman’s finger. Maybe an engagement?

Linden pursed her lips, there was no way around it. She was going to have to go out to the Inn where they’d stayed. Sarah folded the picture into her pocket and left the condo locking the door behind her.

Tacoma wasn’t too far from Seattle, just a little over 30-minutes away. As she drove on I-5, Sarah looked down at the passenger seat where she had put the photo from Richmond’s home.

The entire trip took 42-minutes, Sarah pulled into the parking lot of the cabin themed Inn.

The innkeeper happened to be standing outside, she was a very gentle and kind looking woman with a crop short blonde hair cut, wearing a pale pink turtle neck, and brown jacket. She greeted Sarah as the detective walked up to her, “Can I help you?”

“Yes, I’m actually with Seattle P.D. I’m investigating a homicide.”

“That poor girl, isn’t it?” The woman asked gravely.

The corners of Sarah’s lips turned up briefly in confirmation, “I’m trying to determine Darren Richmond’s alibi, he stayed here, right?”

The innkeeper nodded, “Yes he did. But I don’t know if anything about his alibi.”

“No that’s alright,” said Sarah. “Could you maybe tell me if there is any bodies of saltwater nearby?”

The innkeeper thought for a moment, then retreated inside only to come back out immediately after with a hand map which she gave to Sarah and pointed at, “This here’s a saltwater inlet. Everything else around here is freshwater.”

“How far is that inlet from here?”  
“About half a mile?”

“Are there kayak rentals down there?” Sarah looked up from the map and squinted back up to the innkeeper.

“No,” the woman shook her head. “Just a few houses. Locals working the traps.”

Sarah dipped her head, “Thank you.”

The detective turned to go when the innkeeper spoke again, “Do you… honestly believe he did it? Killed that girl?”

Sarah had looked back when the woman spoke and couldn’t bring herself to tell anything but the truth, “I don’t know.”

“They came here a lot. Boy, he was head over heels for her,” the woman looked down.

“The woman he was here with two weeks ago?”

The innkeeper shook her head, “No. No, no, no. His wife. Lily.”

So this was a sanctuary for him and his wife, Sarah began to understand, or at the very least she had a developing theory. Now she had to confirm it. She thanked the innkeeper and went back to her car thinking before she changed course and used the map to walk towards the inlet. The area the map took her through was through a forest, she walked across the crunchy leaves on the ground and her breath came out in a visible mist because of the cold. Sarah pushed away the branches that obstructed her path, and soon found herself at a clearing with a body of water and the bridge from Richmond’s photo which she took out of her pocket to confirm what she was seeing. The mountain and bridge matched the photo, and thus so was the inlet.

Sarah walked all the way up to the bridge and climbed the somewhat steep incline so she could walk on the actual bridge itself. As she walked across the bridge and made it to the other side, she looked out and found the inlet. Sarah heard voices on the other side of the bridge, and looked down to see locals with small boats with fishing gear and nets. One of the men below looked up and met her gaze before looking away. Sarah looked back out before looking down again to find the same man looking up at her.

She walked down the incline to where the fishers were, and approached the man she had seen, “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

“Depends,” he asked eyeing her. “Who are ya?”  
“I’m a detective with Seattle P.D. and I’m investigating a homicide,” the man nodded he didn’t seem surprised to hear that information. “So?”

“S’ppose so.”

“You come here a lot?”

“Yeah, I been crabbing here the best part of 25 years.”

“Every day?”

“Well, that depends,” he picked up a crab and looked up at her. “Night sometimes. See, some folks say the best time to go crabbing is during a full moon. Some say low tide. Daytime, night-time. Me, I just say throw the damn ring in and see what comes up,” he bent down to go back to work.

Sarah’s eyes followed him, “I bet you’ve seen a lot.”

The man stood up and gave her a knowing look and bobbed his head, “I’ve seen a fair bit.”

“How about the night of October 5th, you seen anything then?”

“That’s what this is about?”

“What happened?”

The man put his hands on his hips and big his lip, “Guy jumped off of the bridge, damn lucky he didn’t break his neck. I was on the boat, wasn’t gonna let him drown. I drove the boat over and tried to pull ‘em out. He pushed against me, didn’t want me to help him at first... but he stopped and I pulled him in the boat took him to shore.”

Sarah pulled the picture from her pocket, “Is this the man?”

The fisherman leaned over to take a look, “Yup, that’s him.”

She nodded and put the picture back into her pocket, “Thanks for your help.”

Sarah walked back to the other side of the bridge, and back down the incline before making her way through the brush to head back to the forest. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed.

“ _District Attorney’s office._ ”

“I need D.A. Niilson.”

“ _She isn’t in the office._ ”

“When’s she back?”

“ _Unfortunately I’m not sure, would you like to leave a message?_ ”

“No, no message. I’ve got her cell.”

With a goodbye, Sarah ended the call and looked through her phone, sniffing because of the cold. She found the number she needed and pressed to make the call putting the phone to her ear.

“ _You’ve reached Christina Niilson, please leave me a message.”_

“Christina, it’s Linden.” She was becoming a bit breathless what with all the new I formations she had come across in addition to the cold weather and the walking she had been doing that day. “I need to talk to you about Darren Richmond. I’ve got something you’re gonna want to hear. Call me right away.”

Sarah ended the call and closed the device, her nerves on edge. She walked back through the woods and to her car by the inn. The temperature was dropping by the time she made it back to her car, and when she climbed inside and started the engine she made sure to turn on the heat before she pulled away.

Now armed with the truth, she knew what she had to do. As she drove back to Seattle she only had one man on the mind, the one who could close this particular chapter of the case. She made the drive back to Seattle in record time shaving off a few minutes of the ride it took her to get to Tacoma.

She parked in the deck of Seattle General and made her way in side the hospital. Linden walked down the hallway, passing nurses and doctors who didn’t give her a second glance. But when she made it down to Richmond’s room where there was an S.P.D. officer stationed and the officer stood up as Sarah approached him and held out a hand to stop her, “Hold it.”

Linden didn’t even blink and handed over her badge and ID for him to examine, “I’m here with the permission of Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Christina Niilson,” she lied easily as he handed her badge back to her. “If you have a problem with that, call her.”

She walked around the officer as he pulled out his phone to do just that, but she didn’t care. Sarah only had eyes for the man lying in the hospital bed, surrounded by numerous monitors and beeping machinery, “Mr. Richmond.”

Richmond barely glanced at her before he looked away, “Get out.”

His animosity towards her was as strong as ever. Sarah didn’t leave, in fact she walked even further into the room her eyes glued to the ailing man. He watched her through half lidded eyes approach him as she walked onto the other side of his bed.

Sarah looked down at him, no trace of pity evident, her lips pressed together, “I know where you were October 5th—” her chin dipped down. “The night Rosie Larsen was killed.”

He inhaled deeply giving his best glare that he could manage, “Gwen… told you I left that night.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Sarah thought she knew already, but wanted to hear it come from him. Her head moved in a way that showed she was analyzing him, “Help me to understand.”

“Why should I?” There was heat behind his words no matter how weak he sounded.

Sarah looked away briefly, then her eyes fell to his right hand. Suddenly she thought of a way to get through to him, her brows raised and she looked back into his eyes, “When I first met you, you were wearing a wedding band. A lot of men don’t. But you did. Five years after your wife’s death. You must have loved her very much.” She reached into her pocket and took out the photo that she had taken from his apartment, holding it up for Richmond to see. “October 5th. You were standing on the bridge in Tacoma because it was your anniversary.”

Darren’s eyes had been glued to the photo since she had taken it out, but now he looked back at her. Sarah continued to speak, “You had proposed to Lily there. The innkeeper remembers ordering champagne.” He looked back at the photo, a sense of longing in his gaze. Sarah lowered the picture and spoke with a strong soft tone in her voice, “And maybe… standing on that bridge…” Richmond shifted his head, “Again that night, it all came back to you… what it had been… what you had… what you lost.” She knew that she hit the nail on the head.

Richmond swallowed, and looked at her, “You have no idea…” he looked away, “how I felt.”

He seemed resilient to no end, but she had to hear him say it. She looked at him for a beat, then took a breath her brows raising, “The fisherman…” Richmond’s eyes found hers, “saw you in the water. Says that you fought him at first. But I think you wanted to live.” Her mouth twitched as she stared at him, he had started to blink more rapidly then before a sign perhaps of nervousness, “And that’s why you were soaking wet when you came back to the inn that night.”

“I let her go,” his eyes were glistening. “I stuck round for the applause. And she died on the side of the road, alone, two minutes from our home.” Sarah did empathize with him as he spoke and the pain and hurt was clear on his face. A muscle in Darren’s jaw ticked, “I failed her,” he looked away and gulped, a tear rolled down his cheek.

Sarah’s tongue darted out to wet her lips, she reached over and gathered her papers before looking back at the man in the bed. She didn’t speak immediately, instead she looked at him for a moment, “I’m sorry for what happened to you. I wish that I had known the truth.” If she had known the truth, he may not have been lying in the hospital paralyzed. She wouldn’t have pursued him the way that she did. They wouldn’t be in the shitstorm they were in now.

Richmond looked back at her, a fierceness and hate burning in his eyes, “Do you have any idea… what a suicide attempt does to a political campaign?” When she didn’t respond he continued, “If one word of this goes public because of you, I will have my lawyers on your ass so fast, you won’t know what hit you,” he moved his head from side to side in short jerky movements. “Now get out.”

With no further agenda to pursue, Sarah looked down and turned away walking out of the room and back down the hallway of the hospital. Sarah checked her phone as she got back to her car, Christina hadn’t called back. She climbed in behind the wheel with a small sigh of frustration, her finger tapping the steering wheel. She’d go straight to her, Sarah decided. To Christina, she was still at work. Sarah turned on the engine and drove away.

Already in downtown, Sarah didn’t have too far to go to the offices of the D.A. She parked in the parking garage and found Christina’s car in her assigned parking space. Sarah stood behind a pillar by Christina’s car and waited for the D.A. to show. She knew that the district attorney would be heading home soon, and she wouldn’t have to wait very long.

Sure enough, less then ten minutes later, she couch hear the sound of heels approaching and the brunette walk by the pillar and Sarah stepped out of the shadow into the light, “Christina.”

The woman turned around alarmed as she hadn’t seen the detective, but as soon as she recognized Linden she said, “Next time you use my name to talk to a suspect, I need to know.” Clearly the D.A. was not happy with her, but at that moment Sarah couldn’t care less.

“Richmond didn’t do it.” Sarah spoke in a hurried and intense quiet voice, “I have a witness who was with him the night of the killing. He was in Tacoma like he said.”

Confusion was evident on Christina’s face, “What about the tollbooth photo?”

“The cameras weren’t working on the bridge that night. The photo was faked.” The D.A. let out a sharp breath as her gaze wandered, yes she understood. Sarah continued, “That’s why I thought it might be best for us to talk in private.”

Christina didn’t respond right away, clearly surprised at the turn of events as she looked down at Sarah. Finally she scoffed, “If I had known you were coming as deep throat, I would have worn my trench coat. Damn it, Linden,” her head turned to both sides to confirm that they were alone before she looked back at the detective, “You just opened up a Pandora’s Box of shit. You do realize this?” She spat out.

Sarah’s eyes moved down and she bobbed her head in the slightest bit of nods before looking back up at Christina, “You have to drop charges and reopen the Rosie Larsen case.”

The D.A. scoffed again, “No problem. Good thing I’m not running for re-election.”

“The killer’s still out there, Chris.”

A car door closed nearby and Sarah’s head snapped to the side, was someone following her? Did they overhear? Sarah had faced adversity already working this case, nothing would surprise her at this point. Christina looked at her before her eyes moved briefly to the sound of the car and back to the detective. Sarah turned back to the D.A.

Christina stared at her for a moment and then shook her head, “I can’t just take your word. Not on this one. No way.”

Relief flooded through the detective; Christina would consider it. She was listening, not throwing her information aside. “No, no. Talk to my witness. Corroborate Richmond’s alibi yourself. But I need you to keep him under wraps a couple of days. The photo, too.”

The D.A. sighed clearly frustrated, “That’s gonna really help my already-challenged relations with the chief.”

Sarah had reached a point of frustration as well. She came to Christina for a reason. Her volume increased a bit, “Look, I wouldn’t’ ask you if I didn’t have to.” She glanced down briefly and shook her head as her eyes moved back up the district attorney, “The photo could be linked directly to Rosie Larsen’s murder.”

The D.A. clenched her teeth and pursed her lips just the slightest bit, “You got a few days.”

Without saying another word, Linden turned and walked away.

“Hey I’m going out on a limb for you. Don’t I even get a thanks?”

Sarah turned back as she said these words and gave her a small smile, and raised her right hand in a wave before turning back around and walking back to her car. She drove back to the station and pulled into the parking lot before heading inside.

Linden walked through the halls of the station, passing uniforms and a newly arrested citizen. Turning left she heard a report coming from a television. Her head spun to the left to find a groups of officers and detectives gathered around the tv in the break room.

“ _In a surprising turn of events, deputy prosecuting attorney Christina Niilson announced today that Councilman Darren Richmond will not be charged—_ ”

Her phone went off, she took it out of her pocket and flipped it open to see that Holder was trying to reach her. She closed the phone immediately and looked back out at the cops in the break room, before she turned and walked away to see Oakes.

“— _who is recovering from a near-fatal gunshot wound._ ”

Sarah just had to turn another corner to reach his office, the door was partially closed so she knocked twice before going inside. A man stood behind the desk, a scowl on his face, rather tall and in a nice lean suit. He looked up at Sarah as she walked in, her brow furrowed in confusion and possibly worry her eyes on the file in his hand before going up to his face, “Who are you? Where’s Oakes?”

“I’m his replacement—Lieutenant Carlson. Oakes took an early retirement and a slap on the wrist for overseeing your sloppy police work, Detective Linden.”

“Except that we both know that Richmond wasn’t arrested because of sloppy police work.”

An almost smile grew on his face, “Mm. Now I have work to do detective, if you don’t mind.” He put the file down on his desk and took a seat looking down at the file still.

“I know about the photo,” said Sarah. She wouldn’t be thrown aside, she was going to finish.

Carlson looked back up at her, “The photo?”

“Yeah,” she bit out and raised her eyebrows, “That the photo was a fake?” Carlson shifted in his seat and blinked rapidly as she continued, “Seattle Times would love to have that on the front page.” Sarah wanted to make it clear to him, that she had leverage

He sighed and chuckled, his tongue pushed out his lip, “Why are you still here Detective Linden? I thought you retired.”

“Mm-Hmm. But I want back on the case. I’m not going out like this, I’m gonna solve this murder.” And she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

An amused smile had appeared on the lieutenant’s face, “While I appreciate your commitment,” he leaned forward, “I haven’t been impressed with your ability so far.” He clasped his hands together and placed them on the desk, “However, D.A. Niilson strongly encouraged me to give you another chance. So, you’re in luck.” He went back to the file on his desk.

Sarah took a short beat, “One more thing,” an almost sly smile on her face. Carlson looked up at her, “I work my case alone. I don’t need a partner on this,” she pressed her lips together. Because her partner couldn’t be trusted, and for all she knew he could stab her in the back then bury the case.

“You’re in no position to make any demands. Holder’s on with you until I say otherwise.” His hands clasped together again, “I think you’re gonna find things will be quite different here from now on.”

It didn’t matter what Carlson said, Linden wasn’t going to work with Holder—the lieutenant didn’t need to know that though. The scowl she walked into the room with had never left her face. She sent one last look to Carlson before she turned out of the offices barely avoiding colliding with a patrol officer. Her eyes followed the uniform, before she turned her head to the left, and walked down the right hall.

She went straight to her office, well their office and coincidentally found the evidence box on top of her old desk with the case file on top of it. But there was another box as well, and with a sense of trepidation Sarah crept forward to see what it was.

_RETURN/DELIVER TO_

_SARAH LINDEN_  
_Seattle Police Department E DIVISION_  
_1794 Federal Way_  
_Seattle, WA_

It was from Rick Felder, in Tacoma. A flood of hurt pulsed through her veins... she didn’t even have a home address for him to send her things back to. Rick had truly given up on her... She shook herself off and picked up each of the boxes making her way out of the precinct.

Linden walked back to her car, and rested the boxes on the trunk as she opened the back door placing each of them inside. Then she opened her phone and pressed a contact.

“ _Hey mom._ ”

“Hey Jack, I should be home in 20 minutes, can you be downstairs to help me unload the car?”

“ _Unload what?_ ”

“Our stuff Jack,” she ducked inside of the vehicle. “20 minutes, alright?”

“ _Yeah, sure._ ” He definitely sounded exasperated.

Sarah drove out of the lot and headed to the motel. Jack was waiting outside the Happy Day Inn Motel, a bored expression on his face. When she got out of the car he said, “It’s been 30 minutes.”

“I was close,” she replied before going to the trunk and popping it open. “Come grab your things.” Jack took out his bag as Linden opened the back seat and some of the other bags, “Can you grab the boxes back here too?”

Jack muddled forward and took the boxes with the evidence box with the case file on top. Armed with their groceries and belongings the Lindens made their way back into the motel. Somehow she managed to maneuver her way around d her load and take out the room key so that she could open the door and turn on the light.

“I thought we weren’t gonna be staying here long,” said Jack with a hint of disappointment but also not surprised.

“We’re not, but we can’t leave our stuff in the car.” And Sarah meant it, they wouldn’t be here long. But she had to finish the case. She put the paper bags down on the small table before she pulled off her jacket, “Could you put those on the bed?” Jack walked around her, “How was school?” she asked as Jack put the boxes down as she requested, but a pile of photos fell off.

“Fine,” said Jack. Sarah bent down to get the photos but looked up at her son, there was something off in his tone when he had responded. “Weird.”

That wasn’t all too surprising, up until now things had been uncertain. Sarah wasn’t proud of it, but her and Jack had been living on somewhat shaky ground. But it would be different now, back to normal even... eventually. “Just give it time. It’ll work out.” She gathered the pictures into a pile, and realized she’d never seen the one on top. She sat down on the bed and looked at the photo closely, it looked like some cartoon drawing. The photo was paper clipped to the picture of Rosie riding the bicycle. The cartoon must be the enlarged photo of the image in the mirror that she had asked Ray to enlarge.

Suddenly, there was a pounding on the door, Sarah looked up,

“ _Linden._ ”

It was Holder, Sarah recognized his voice. Holder must have figured out that she knew what he did. She stood up from the bed and put the photos down. Slowly, she began to inch forward just a bit, then out of the corner of her eye she saw Jack going straight for the door. Swinging out her right arm gently and placing a hand on his chest Linden stopped him, Jack looked at her questioningly but instead of giving a verbal answer she put a finger to her lips and shook her head.

2 more loud bangs on the door, “ _Open the door, Linden. I-I know you’re in there. I need to talk to you._ ”

Sarah looked at Jack and pointed to the bathroom, the expression on her face leaving no room for argument. She didn’t know why Holder was here, but she was going to protect her kid at all costs. She pushed Jack’s shoulder towards the room while she herself went to the door of the hotel room itself, as Holder continued to pound on it.

“ _Linden, open the door! I know—I know you’re in there!_ ” She locked the deadbolt, “ _I-I saw your car parked out—_ ” she had gone to secure the chain lock when he started to pound on the door again and she winced just the slightest bit. Sarah stepped back and pressed herself against the wall as her hand went to her Glock. It didn’t matter what he said; she couldn’t trust him. “ _Linden, open the door! Linden, I..._ ” Her mind did register that he sounded distraught but still she paid no mind to this. Her grip on her firearm stayed firm, his next round of pounding made the fire plan hanging on the door fly up, “ _Open the door, Linden’ I-I got—I got to talk to you._ ” He was stammering, Linden kept her breathing deep and even. “ _I-I can explain..._ ” her eyes moved to look at the door as though she were trying to see through the wood. Explain what? How Holder submitted fake evidence, framed an innocent man who was now paralyzed and lying in a hospital? Let the real murderer get away? Cover up the murder of a young woman? Holder was just like Oakes... willing to do what he had to do to cover up his mistakes. A corrupt cop, a betrayer, someone she had put her trust in—granted that was her fault to begin with. She never should have trusted him. The pounding resumed, “ _Linden, just open this—open the door, Linden!_ ” The last knock was the loudest, then it stopped. All the pounding, the yelling it just stopped... she still didn’t move though.

Finally, after some time Sarah pressed her ear to the hotel door trying to see if she could hear anything on the other side. There was the the smallest of thuds and then what she was pretty sure were footsteps walking away. But she still didn’t move.

Then a different type of knock, and it wasn’t coming from the hotel door but rather from inside the hotel room.

“Mom... Can I come out now? It’s been like 20 minutes.”

Sarah pressed her lips together, Jack was exaggerating, and both of them knew it. But still, “Yeah, you can come out.”

The door to the bathroom opened and Jack walked back out to the main area somewhat wearily. He gave his mom a look of apprehension, “What was that about?”

Linden searched her kid’s face, she knew that he and Holder got along well and part of her was definitely eating away that Jack had just witnessed what just happened. “Are you okay?” Jack nodded, still waiting for an answer. But she wasn’t going to discuss it with him, “You hungry? Let’s get some of this unpacked, then we can eat something okay?”

Her kid had an eyeroll that could rival any other, she chose not to call him out on it though. Jack went to the groceries and began to put them away. Sarah went back to the hotel room door, and undid the deadbolt before opening the door and peaking out. Holder was gone, but there was something on the floor. She closed the door and undid the chain so that she could opened the door the rest of the way. Stepping out into the hall, Sarah saw a large dent I the door that Holder must have created with all of his banging. She looked down and found his detective shield lying in the hallway—her brain started to spin, what could that mean?


End file.
